During the more than 50 years of his seafaring life, Captain Robert Abram 'Bob' Bartlett skippered some of the most famous, dangerous, and controversial exploratory expeditions to the Arctic. He travelled further north than almost any other living person at the time, and survived for months in the inhospitable Arctic. After sea ice crushed and sank his ship, he journeyed hundreds of miles by dogsled to reach civilization. Despite these hardships, Bartlett returned to the Arctic whenever circumstance allowed and almost always came back with photographs, film reels, and scientific data that greatly contributed to the world's understanding of the north.